I created this pasta salad for my brother Steve’s Independence Day barbecue. I needed to bring a side dish that could sit out safely in the hot sun for several hours, and also fit in well with an American style cookout. An additional benefit is it gave guests a vegan option, and me an excuse to eat lots of cold pasta salad.

The vinegar base in this recipe would pair well with homemade buttermilk fried chicken, or even a store bought rotisserie chicken.

A year ago, Howard Hsu opened his Atlanta Food Truck Park and 4,000 people came out to have a taste of what has become one of Atlanta’s trendiest places to grab a bite of unique food, gab with friends or take a date.

Now, Hsu is hosting the park’s anniversary celebration, Passport to Flavors, all weekend long. The event was scheduled to begin Thursday afternoon, but was postponed due to inclement weather.

Hsu figures that about 2,000 people will visit the park each day of the Passport to Flavors event for a total of about 6,000 people overall.

Each day is a different tribute to the unique food trucks that have become favorites over the last year, a way to celebrate “the ones that helped us bring the food truck park into existence,” explained Hsu, who also owns and operates the Sweet Auburn Barbecue food truck.

The event will feature unique dishes with international flavors, food truck tastings, live music and entertainment. (A full schedule is included below.)

Opening and running the park hasn’t always been a smooth ride, Hsu said. He spent a lot of the last year “really just figuring it out…building a loyal following and finding out not only what the fans want, but what the food truck owners want.”

“It’s been a learning curve. It’s been interesting and very fun getting to know all the different food truck owners.”

One thing is for certain, Hsu loves his job as director of Atlanta Food Truck Park and who wouldn’t? It’s a job with tons of amazing food, which brings people from all walks of life together in one spot on Howell Mill Road.

“My favorite part has been all the good food. I love meeting all the different people from different backgrounds.”

After all the anniversary fun has concluded, the park will open Tuesday for its regular summer hours: Tuesday, 11 a.m. to 3 p.m., Wednesday, 11 a.m. to 9 p.m., Thursday – Saturday, 11 a.m. to 9 p.m., Sunday, 12 to 7 p.m. The park remains closed on Mondays.

The event is free, but you will need to bring cash to pay for food items.

Here is a link for those of you that either have a food truck, that recieve expensive tickets, due to short parking times; or businesses or property owners, willing to help out food truck owners and give them a break; by allowing parking for food truck parking, only.

So, I went back to find the pin, for the broken link, But I can’t find it, … I am sorry!! I hate it as much as you do – I really wanted to check that website out later, But hey! @ least I can make up for it, RIGHT?? Yep! Enjoyz! ~Ami

Thrifty Thursday…String Storage

Welcome to another Thrifty Thursday…using what we have around the house (or super cheap things) to make our lives a little easier.
Today, it’s string storage. I know, trivial, but we all have string right? Well, here’s the new string idea in my sewing room…mounted on the wall.

We all have baskets around the house, but if not, these are from The Dollar Tree for…you guessed it…$1.00.
The baskets hold your balls of string. It’s easy to see, contains them without the balls going every where and the baskets could hold more than one ball too.

I don’t have small children around my house, so I hooked scissors on the basket for easy cutting!

The holes in these baskets allows for the string to be threaded through…just pull as much as you need and cut!! The rolls of string stay inside the baskets.
Easy peasy!

If you’d like to see my old string storage, you can CLICK HERE.
Hope you have a Thrifty Thursday, ~Karen~

Whoooooo!! SPRING. IS. HERE. !! The weather may not want to behave, but Easter has come & gone, and that, in my book, means SPRING!! Have you noticed that EVERY-THING is thickly covered pollen??? Another sign that SPRING is here. FINALLY!

So, you know that a number of weeks ago, My dream for a garden came true, Thanks to my Dad; I love ya, Dad! X0!

I have a washpail full of Gardening Boards on my Pintrest account – Slap full of ideas, loves, n’ all kinds of stuff! I have several moc-ups of future projects for the the Hubbys & I’s Estate Garden. I have a few I’d like to feature here, tonight… Can you guess what my next few projects are?? I’ll give you a hint… It has something to do with Red Wigglers.

Here are some of the ones I just pinned a few min ago, to my boards. . .

Weed Control: Another good thing to use is baking soda. It neutralizes the ph in the soil and nothing will grow there. I use baking soda in a 6″ wide area around all of the edges of my flower beds to keep the grass and weeds from growing into my beds. Just sprinkle it onto the soil so that it covers it lightly. I usually have to do this twice a year – spring and fall. {Yes, I had to paste all of that here. So I will remember it!!}

I hope all of of Ya’ll enjoy the weather, despite what temperature. If its warm & sunny GET OUT AND ENJOY IT!! Rainy or cold? Park yourself infront of the laptop or in a chair with your favorite book, and some #Skittles. { @YouFoundPickles n’ @Lizlarg on @Instagram }

I am going to call it a night. Tomorrw is a big day for me, my Hubby is comming back home. I have missed him so much!! I am going to tackle him in bear hug & lots of kisses when I see him! LOL! {I did that once @ an airport, one year… I nearly knocked him over! He totally didn’t expect it, It was hilarious!… I wonder if a video of it is floating around YouTube somewhere..?? If ya’ll find it somewhere on YouTube, Tag me in it! #VolpeLife}